I was recently rummaging through old interview notes for On the Corner newsletters and I found some pretty neat history published in OtC the past 13 years. Seeing the stack of hundreds of copies of past newsletters, it reminded me what a wonderful neighborhood of people in the LC. I’m not sure there is a

more rich neighborhood in Boulder. But while looking through these old files I came across some interesting items and one was this article written by a neighbor who did not print his/her name. It offers a great perspective on this area in the neighborhood from 27 years ago. So I have no idea who shared this with

me or where it came from. Please read it and let me know if you know, or if you have a guess. Or maybe it’s you! Thank you and enjoy, JON HATCH

“The Neighborhood”

By Anonymous, 1992

This was a neighborhood of young families in those days. Its history, however, went back to the early years of the century. In 1904, David Dobbins bought 179 acres from the county and two years later subdivided it into Floral Park and Interurban Park. Floral Park included the blocks between 15th and 20th Streets from Baseline Road to Bluebell Avenue. Interurban Park contained the blocks between Bluebell and Chautauqua (now King) Avenues from 15th to 20th as well as all of the land east of Floral Park to what is now South Broadway. Dobbins' intent in making the original purchase was to find ground suitable for a perpetual care cemetery. He was instrumental in organizing the Boulder CemeteryAssociation, supervised the laying out of roads and of cemetery plots (in what is now Green Mountain Cemetery), but after about two years sold his interest in the Association. Read more

Dear neighbors and friends, this year marks the 13th anniversary of the very first edition of your On the Corner newsletter. I began publishing OtC in the early days of my real estate career as a way to bridge my professional photojournalism career and my real estate career. It’s kept me very engaged in this neighborhood, which has so many stories to tell. This spring also marks my 15th year in the real estate business. It’s awesome to have grown such a successful business. I’ve worked really hard to make it this far and I definitely recognize that a lot of my business comes from right here in the neighborhood.

On the opposite of this big card you’ll see homes that I sold here in 2019. Each of them are so different and they all have such interesting histories. Like many homes here, they also have been through different transformation over the years. The homes built in the LC have just as interesting stories to tell as the residents that call Lower Chautauqua home. “If these walls could talk,” right? Such rich history here, and that’s why I appreciate it so much. And I appreciate you. You’ve entrusted me to market and sell your homes and you’ve trusted me to help you buy the house here that you now call home. The many homes I’ve sold here dot the neighborhood from Bellevue Heights to Interurban Park and from the Cul-de-sacs off King Avenue to Baseline Road. Many of you have referred business to me over the years and for that I am grateful and truly appreciate your business and your referrals! I’d like to continue to earn your trust. Please contact me anytime to discuss selling or buying real estate. I’m happy to offer a market analysis of your home anytime, with no strings attached! Sincerely, HATCH

House became home for the Carlsons

By Silvia Pettem

In 1949, three years after Vivian and Carroll Carlson were married, the young couple purchased a brand-new house on Baseline Road in the Interurban Park subdivision. Now, almost seven decades later, Vivian still calls it home.

The neighborhood had been platted years earlier, in 1908, when the “Interurban” railroad first ran through the University of Colorado and then south on what today is South Broadway. The commuter trains continued to operate until 1926.

For the next two decades, the subdivided land between part of Park Avenue (now Baseline Road) and Green Mountain Cemetery was rural and sparsely settled. When the Carlsons’ moved in, the population of Boulder was just under 20,000. But post-World War II growth would quickly usher in big changes... READ THE NEWSLETTER

Haertling and Wagener, architects who shaped Boulder, both buried at Green Mountain Cemetery

By Carol Taylor

A stroll through Green Mountain Cemetery is a contemplation on the many personalities in history who contributed to Boulder. Standing out are two innovators, Charles Haertling and Hobart Wagener, architects who shaped Boulder’s built environment and created an inventory of striking mid-century modern structures.

Both men were born in the 1920s, both had Midwestern roots, both served in the U.S. Navy and both moved to Boulder in the 1950s. In addition, they both worked for Boulder architect James Hunter before starting their own practices.

Each architect left an impressive body of award-winning designs, many of which are now city landmarks, including residences, churches and public buildings. All the while they both raised families and served the community in civic and philanthropic organizations… READ THE NEWSLETTER

Chautauqua turns 120: From teachers’ retreat to National Historic Landmark

By Carol Taylor

It was quite a prize when Boulder landed the Chautauqua, 120 years ago, in the early months of 1898. Several other towns vied for the teachers’ retreat planned by the Texas Board of Regents, but Boulder officials impressed them with spectacular mountain scenery on a narrow gauge railroad trip.

The Texans chose a Chautauqua for their program, because the American Chautauqua movement was in full force. From the 1890s-1920s literally thousands of Chautauquas popped up all over the country as education and entertainment for the masses, featuring lifelong learning, oration and the arts.

Boulder agreed to provide the land and an auditorium as well as a dining hall for the new Texas-Colorado Chautauqua. The challenge was how to pay for this exciting amenity.

Boulder was a small town of about 6,000 residents, with a fledgling University and a collection of small businesses, but no cash for such a large project. A bond election could raise the funds to purchase the Batchelder

Ranch and other necessities, officials decided. With some hearty encouragement at the polls, the bond passed overwhelmingly in a municipal election in April of 1898. READ THE NEWSLETTER

One of Boulder’s Civilian Conservation Corp units bunked

by Chautauqua By Carol Taylor

One of Boulder’s Civilian Conservation Corp units bunked by Chautauqua By Carol Taylor Like the rest of the country, Boulder suffered in the Great Depression. Thankfully, programs from President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s administration helped get people back on their feet. FDR established the Civilian Conservation Corp by executive order on April 5th of 1933, as part of his New Deal. The CCC pubic works programs helped ease the suffering of the Depression by putting able-bodied unmarried young men to work. The youngest (18-25 year olds) made $30 per month, while team leaders and assistants earned a little bit more. The majority of each worker’s paycheck was deducted and sent home to their needy families... READ THE NEWSLETTER

Early Chautauquans loved the Switzerland Trail

By Carol Taylor

Legend says it was the spectacular scenery on a mountain train ride that helped clinch the Chautauqua for Boulder. Boulder had been competing with other Colorado towns for the privilege of establishing a restorative cultural retreat for Texas schoolteachers.

In February of 1898, Texas educators arrived in Boulder to survey proposed sites for a new Chautauqua. “The prize is too big to be allowed to slip away,” stated the Daily Camera editor Lucius Paddock. Community leaders feted the group, showed them around town and arranged a special treat – a ride in the mountains on the narrow gauge Colorado & Northwestern railroad. On the trip up to the town of Sunset, Chautauqua officials were amazed by the dramatic mountain splendor. READ THE NEWSLETTER

Henrietta Lives!

By Carol Byerly

It looks like Henrietta is going to make it. The elderly Plymouth Rock chicken has survived raccoon attacks, coyote raids, the neighbor dogs, and the dramatic weather extremes of Colorado. Now she was the sole survivor of an electrical fire that killed the other seven chickens, ages four months to a year, in her coop.

Early Monday morning I was drawn to the backdoor by the lights of fire trucks from the rescue station just blocks from my house. Over the fence I saw that my neighbors’ chicken coop, a sturdy little house on stilts, was engulfed in flame. Oh no, I thought, those poor chickens. I knew my neighbors were out of town and saw the house sitter, Liz, standing stock still in the middle of the yard, still in her slippers, arms folded, watching as the firemen efficiently and thoroughly put out the fire with their hoses and picks and dragging out all of the flammable material required to raise chickens. Both curious (I admit) and wanting to support Liz, I went over to help and console. Liz told that when she ran to the flaming coop, when she opened the door, all of the chickens were on fire, but for one in a corner who somehow escaped the fireball and hopped or fell out of the coop. “Henrietta” I said, “she has survived all the other traumas here.” And on the ground behind the coop, amidst the four or five firemen in their full yellow and black rubber suits and hoses and big helmets, I saw a small, shuddering pile of feathers... READ THE NEWSLETTER

A “who-who-whodunit” in Lower Chautauqua

A text buzzed my phone on a Friday night. “Hooty hoo,” read the caption underlining a dark photo. Although taken with a camera phone at night, the photo’s subject was unmistakable. Fifteen feet up, perched on an enormous apple tree, a Great Horned Owl stared back at the camera. She had that iconic owl shape, the “horns” (which are actually just feathers) erect atop her large, disc-like face, eyes shining like LED lights. The photo came from a buddy who lives in Lower Chautauqua. The apple tree stands in his yard, and is a magnet for Boulder wildlife. I’m a wildlife biologist, so this friend likes to send me updates about what cool critters he has seen parading through his yard, feasting on fallen and ripened fruit. A couple of months back, it was a big mama black bear and her two fat, yearling cubs. Around 8 o’clock the next morning, I got another text from the same friend. His wife had just found the owl dead, lying at the foot of the same tree, directly beneath her perch. READ THE NEWSLETTER

Why I Like This NeighborhoodBy Jesse Weaver, 9 I’m the luckiest kid in the world. Why am I the luckiest kid in the world? Because I get to live in the lower Chautauqua neighborhood. I think this neighborhood is AWESOME. The reason I think this neighborhood is so AWESOME is because of everything I’m about to tell you. READ THE NEWSLETTER